Fordham University Press A Theology of Failure: Žižek against Christian Innocence (Perspectives in Continental Philosophy)

Everyone agrees that theology has failed, but the question of how to respond to this failure is contested. Against both radical orthodoxy and deconstructive theology, Rose proposes that Christian identity is constituted by, not despite, failure. Rose shows how the influential work of Slavoj Žižek repeats the original move of Christian mysticism differently, yoking language, desire, and transcendence to a materialist rather than a Neoplatonist account of the world. Tracing these themes through the Dionysius, Derrida, and contemporary debates about the gift, violence, and revolution, Rose’s critical theological engagement with Žižek helps makes possible a materialist reading of Christianity. Review This is the best work I have ever read on Žižek in relation to theology, maybe the best such work possible. Rose’s prose style is clear and engaging, and her project significantly advances our understanding of Christian apophaticism, of Žižek’s project, and of the potential future stakes of theology for a secular world. Author: Adam Kotsko, author of Neoliberalism’s Demons: On the Political Theology of Late Capital An ambitious and significant project in continental philosophy and theology. Engaging Dionysius beyond the usual texts and reading that corpus through Žižek, Rose offers way of linking ontology, language, and theology―through failure―that is theologically productive. Author: Ellen Armour, Vanderbilt University From the Author Marika Rose is Lecturer in Philosophical Theology at the University of Winchester. About the Author Marika Rose is Lecturer in Philosophical Theology at the University of Winchester.